(Delaware) Police officers in a suburban Philadelphia county will soon be the first to carry a newly approved easy-to-administer version of the drug that reverses heroin and prescription painkiller overdoses...(NBC10)

(Fulton) Fulton County Medical Center will host Operation Save a Life, a training program for anyone concerned that a loved one is at risk for overdosing on heroin or a prescription pain medication, on Friday, March 11...(Public Opinion)

(Statewide) The heroin and drug overdose crisis has hit Pennsylvania hard - from a growing number of overdose deaths to increasing demand for treatment services. And now, new data shows hospitals are also feeling the pressure...(WITF)

(Southwest)...Numbers in southwestern Pennsylvania aren't much different than the state as a whole: pain medication overdoses increased by 208 percent; heroin overdoses increased by 289 percent...(Business Journal)

(Lehigh) Hospitalization for pain medication overdoses quadrupled in the Lehigh Valley over the decade and a half ending in 2014, according to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council...(Morning Call)

(Montgomery) Three months after Montgomery County announced a standing order allowing pharmacies to distribute overdose-reversing drug Naloxone, officials continue to spread the word about efforts to reduce the heroin and opioid epidemic...(The Mercury)

(Statewide) Governor Tom Wolf joined the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) today at the commission's 2016 Opioid Symposium, entitled "Prevention, Intervention, Treatment, and Recovery."..(Office of Governor)

(Midstate) The Pennsylvania region that includes Harrisburg, York and Lancaster experienced a 442 percent increase in hospitalizations for painkillers from 2010 to 2014, according to a new analysis...(PennLive)

(Statewide) Hospitalizations for heroin and pain medicine overdoses have skyrocketed in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2014, according to a new report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council...(Reading Eagle)

(Northeast) A new report shows hospitalizations from painkillers and heroin overdoses have soared since 2000 in northeast Pennsylvania, yet those who work with addicts in the area suspect the report numbers may substantially underestimate the scope of the problem...(Times Leader)

(Statewide) The soaring epidemic of heroin and prescription overdoses has sparked thousands of inpatient admissions across Pennsylvania, socking urban and rural hospitals with robust surges in case rates, a state agency has found...(Post-Gazette)

(Armstrong) Magisterial District Judge J. Gary DeComo in Armstrong County has seen and sentenced plenty of drug offenders during his career, but he's equally committed to finding ways for them to avoid ending up in front of him in the first place...(Post-Gazette)

(Berks) There is no getting away from the grim reality of the drug crisis facing our region, state and nation. In Berks County alone at least 25 people died of heroin-related causes in 2015. Countless other lives of addicts and their loved ones have been badly damaged as well. But that doesn't mean anyone should give up hope...(Reading Eagle)

(Schuylkill)...Schuylkill County Drug and Alcohol and Clinical Outcomes Group Inc. are hosting the "Public Access to Narcan" event from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Alvernia University-Schuylkill Center, 1544 Route 61, Pottsville...(Republican Herald)

(National)...But we know that lives don't break overnight. Most people with substance use disorders started using alcohol or other drugs before the age of 18, when the brain is still developing and teenagers are vulnerable...(New York Times)

(Rhode Island) Rhode Island's drug overdose epidemic has not abated. But there has been some progress in marshaling more resources to fight it...(RIPR)

(National) I have been asked many times to explain why I have chosen to be so "out of the closet" and open about being a person in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder...(Huffington Post)

(National)...This realization is driving bipartisan support in Washington for saner, less punitive drug policies, some of which Congress had steadfastly resisted for decades...(New York Times)

(National) Any high school in the U.S. that wants to carry an emergency opioid overdose reversal kit will now be able to get one free of charge, thanks to a new initiative announced Monday by the Clinton Foundation and the drug's manufacturer...(Huffington Post)

(National) A national heroin and opiate epidemic has reversed health gains - especially among white Americans - that have resulted from medical advances. Drug overdoses are driving up death rates for young white adults to levels not seen for decades...(Post-Gazette)

(Minnesota)...An addiction to powerful opioid painkillers that she needed at first for digestive pain - but later just needed - hijacked the promise of a 26-year-old champion swimmer and dancer whose life goal was to study nursing or radiology and care for others....(Star Tribune) 

(Illinois) Heroin has put Dave Admire's family through hell, but now he's hoping to be an angle for other families...(Belleville News-Democrat)

(New Jersey) U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone on Thursday proposed spending $500 million a year to help individuals addicted to prescription opioids and heroin...(NJ Advance Media)